Advocacy Alert! Transportation Bill

From our friends at the League of American Bicyclists.  Click here for more info on how to make your voice heard. 

House Bill Reverses Decades of Progress on Bike/Ped It’s so much worse than we thought.

Today, the House releases its transportation bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Act.

When we contacted you last week, we knew the bill would be bad news for biking and walking. But we didn’t think it would go so far as to completely cut every reference to bicycling and walking out of the federal transportation policy.

House leadership is pressing to eliminate bicycling and walking in the Transportation bill:

• Destroys Transportation Enhancements by making the program optional
• Repeals the Safe Routes to School program, reversing years of progress in creating safe ways for kids to walk and ride bicycles to school
• Allows states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles
• Eliminates bicycle and pedestrian coordinators in state DOTs
• Eliminates language that insures that rumble strips “do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists, pedestrians or the disabled”

But we can still save biking and walking in this bill. This week in the Transportation Committee, Representative Petri (R-WI) will stand up for bicycling and walking by offering an amendment that restores dedicated funding for Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Mr. Petri can only be successful if everyone with a stake in safe sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways contacts their Representative on the Transportation Committee again today to urge them to vote YES on the Petri amendment!

This is as urgent as it gets. Even if we do win this amendment, there will be a long road ahead. But if we lose here, we risk losing decades of progress.

We know we are asking a lot of you and we thank you for all you’re doing to preserve biking and walking.

Paging Leavenworth Commuters...

If you find yourself searching for the proverbial white courtesy phone after reading the headline, then we have an opportunity for you! This opportunity comes in the form of an upcoming community meeting regarding proposed bicycle infrastrucure improvements along Leavenworth between I-480 and 24th Street.

When: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
Where: Greek Orthodox church - 602 Park Avenue

The meeting is primarily for business owners along that corridor, but we'd like to make sure that the cyclist views are also represented. This is a great opportunity to educate business and homeowners about the benefits of bicycle infrastructure.

We'll continue to keep everyone posted about the project, so stay tuned!

Please join The Pizza Shoppe Collective and Lucky Bucket Brewery in doing some fundraising for Community Bike Project Omaha! Saturday, February 25th from 6:30-8:30. A $45 ticket gets you a 3-course meal with beer pairings. CBPO will also be raffling off a tandem bicycle. To reserve your ticket, please email sara@communitybikeproject.org or visit our Facebook page and follow the link under our events tab. We hope to see you there!

Advocacy Alert! Keystone Connector (now South Omaha) Trail

There is an item on the City Council agenda for the January 24 meeting:

Ord. declaring the necessity of acquiring, for use by the City of Omaha, the necessary private property for linear trail corridor purposes, specifically for the South Omaha Trail Phase 2 (formally known as the Keystone Trail East Connector Phase 2) from South 45th and Dayton Streets to the southern terminus of the Field Club Trail; providing that the City negotiate with the property owners for land acquisition, permanent easements and temporary construction easements; providing that as to each specified parcel which cannot be obtained by negotiation, condemnation proceedings be undertaken and completed;

Everything we've heard thus far indicates that the trail is on track for completion as early as end of 2012; we certainly don't want opposition causing any glitches at this stage in the game!

Also note that the official name of this trail is going to be the South Omaha Trail.

Please note: the meeting begins at 2pm in the Legislative Chambers at City Hall (1819 Farnam).

Agenda and Link to Agenda Items
Available at http://www.ci.omaha.ne.us

UNO bike fix-it station (open to the public)

Our friends over at UNO have achieved another significant milestone in supporting multimodal transportation and physical fitness for its students, faculty, and staff. Late last month, UNO installed a new bicycle fix-it station next to the bike racks inside the HPER parking garage.  The new fix-it station will allow users to make minor repairs and adjustments on their bikes. The fix-it station includes an ingenious method of holding a bike off the ground so it's easier to work on, provides a set of the most common bike tools, and an air pump. This bicycle fix-it station is the first public repair stand of its kind in Omaha.

Funding for the new bike fix-it station was provided by the Community Bike Project Omaha, a local non-profit that helps Omaha's colleges and universities improve their cycling options, through the CDC's Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant.

Bike to the Ballpark!

It's hard to believe, but it is time to start planning for the College World Series Bike to the Ballpark 2012!

Our first year was a rousing success by all accounts:  700+ bikes parked and $600+ in donations raised that we can use to upgrade our operation for this year!  Anyone who spent time volunteering at the bike corral last summer knows that awareness was raised significantly, which we know will translate into more people arriving on bikes this year.

We need to get a committee going to coordinate our efforts.  Items on the to-do list include: building new bike racks; contacting host hotels to discuss bike friendly measures that can be taken; upgrading the signage, valet cards and other material; and developing a media/communication plan.

If you would like to be involved, please contact Julie -- jharris (at) activateomaha (dot) org -- by Wednesday, January 25.  We'll get a distro list going and figure out the most convenient time to schedule our first meeting.

BREAKING NEWS! 3 Ft Passing Law Introduced!

Great news coming out of the state legislature today!  Sen. Tom Hansen of North Platte introduced a bill that would require vehicles to give 3 feet of space when passing cyclists, pedestrians and operators of assisted electronic mobility devices.

The specific language pertaining to cyclists: "...shall exercise due care, which shall include, but not be limited to, leaving a safe distance of no less than three feet clearance, when applicable, when passing a bicycle..." 
 
Check the full bill here:  http://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Intro/LB1030.pdf
 
Omaha Bikes will be monitoring this legislation closely and will provide updates as they become available.  Please contact your state senator to show your support! 

Dec 22 - BKB Holiday Bike Ride

Cyclists, Get your bikes blinged up for our Holiday Ride across the Pedestrian Bridge. A group will be gathering around 6:15 at the Riverside Grille parking lot and ride over the Bob Kerrey Bridge to DJ's Dugout. Plan to stop on the bridge to admire the Omaha Skyline and the Dazzling Array of Lights.  Be sure to dress warm and bring your holiday cheer.

7-10pm TONIGHT - CBPO awards and appreciation night!

You are cordially invited to the Community Bike Project's annual Golden Spokes awards and Volunteer Appreciation night--TONIGHT! 7-10pm--at the Pizze Shoppe in Benson (6056 Maple!
We will have live music by The Prairie Gators, pizza, and door prizes! Come help us celebrate a successful year and toast to a new one!

CBPO looks forward to many more exciting events in 2012, including:

• Beer Tasting
• Bike-Inspired Art Show
• Fundraising Concert

We will keep you updated.

Also, it's that time of year again! Please consider making a year-end donation to the Community Bike Project Omaha. This year, we gave out hundreds of bikes and helped hundreds of people get their bikes going again--people who otherwise wouldn't be able to without us. We depend largely on community support to do the work we do and we would be happy to provide a receipt for your tax purposes! Please visit our website: http://www.communitybikeproject.org, email info@communitybikeproject.org, or mail something along to us at 525 North 33rd Street, Omaha, NE 68131.

Happy Holidays and let's have a great 2012! Hope to see you tonight!

Matt Martin
CBPO Executive Director

GO OMAHA!

Looks like Omaha is MOVING in the right direction.